Micro-Motion Systems Enable New Technology

Microfluidic optical systems
“From a high level, microfluidic applications are attempting to achieve the same thing as biometric systems,” said David Simpson, vice president of sales and marketing for New Scale. “In a macro sense, applications for DNA analysis, identification, and medical diagnostics for pathogens and other environmental contaminants are being analyzed on very large, expensive laboratory-based systems that require highly trained personal to perform the sample preparation, testing, and analysis.”

The overall design goals are to decrease the size and complexity of the machines, reduce the cost per test to less than $1,000, and decrease the time required in testing. Instrument makers are trying to deliver portable devices that are small enough and cost-effective enough to be deployed in remote field locations, individual doctor offices, and forensic labs.

“The goal is to avoid the need to send these samples back to a central clearing house. But in order to do that, the systems need to develop a process to handle the samples without needing trained scientists, and is affordable. That is where microfluidics chip comes in,” Simpson told us.

Microfluidics technology is enabling a cartridge approach to processing samples, where systems can pre-package the chemistry and achieve efficient handling of the sample. These microfluidics chips are providing the possibility to meet these new design goals.

“However, there are challenges with the microfluidics cartridge. It works well because the cartridge is disposable; it eliminates the problem of how to manipulate the sample, and can be housed in a small instrument box,” said Simpson. “But there are small mechanical variations and tolerances in the cartridges, and the question is how to align the instrumentation with the microfluidics channel. Essentially, the applications are aligning and focusing their optical systems to the microfluidic channels to allow for accurate analysis of the samples.”

Precise micro-motion systems are enabling these new technologies by making the devices smaller, less expensive, and more automated to allow testing to be done by lower level personnel in a faster time frame. Their ability to provide high-resolution micro positioning in a range of travel makes it possible for systems to align the light sources to the channels, and effectively focus the light onto the sensors and detectors. Even though there are variations with the cartridges used, the system has the ability to achieve quick alignment and focusing on the samples to perform the science that is needed.

“Beyond the small, precise, high-resolution motion capabilities required, another aspect of this technology that is driving rapid adoption and enabling customers to commercialize these products is that it is also a smart system,” said Simpson.

I can't believe that only now are medical imaging devices reaching the pixel density per inch in my cell phone (not to mention the decades old CNC control practices). It is only through clearer views, sharper images, and high resolution that industries start to understand their practices better. The amount of research data provided by high-resolution satellite images surpasses previous generations by magnitudes. Although this camera is a great first step, the technology is there to go beyond right now.

All industries can argue that research is important in whatever micro-bubble they are in. But, the medical industry is the most important, in my opinion. Having worked for a company that did contract work for the medical industry, there is very little money being poured into the sector. Only a handful of engineers worked at that company, including myself. We made devices to detect cancer, apply medical injections, etc, very important, life-dependant, products... only 3 engineers. Apple, Google, Microsoft has hundreds, if not thousands, at their disposal. The dichotomy is depressing.

James, you make an interesting point. Do you have an explaination as to why medical imaging is lagging behind? Could it have something to do with the long verifcation and validation test cycles needed for medical device approval that is causing the medical industry to be a follower rather than a leader?

I have to agree with James on this one. The medical industry lags behind due to the amount of developers active in that sector. I have never heard of a medical design company with $100 billion in cash, like Apple. So, without the funds, innovation and tech adoption will be slow. Perhaps these big tech companies will branch out into the med world as good Samaritans. Then again, with the problems and errors these big companies like HTC, Samsung, or Apple overlook in their devices, we might now want their help.

The copious checks in the medical build process is probably a deterrent too. The return on investment is probably very low.

Having reported on machine vision for a few years before coming to DN, I have to agree with Cabe: commercial computer vision/machine vision, including medical apps, has been a very small industry or group of industries with very low volumes, for nearly all of its history. Cell phones have awesome camera sensor chips because of the dollars and volumes involved. Just as consumer electronics volumes (and capitalization) helped along the development of processors and memory, so has it done the same thing for CMOS-based imaging sensors, but only recently. That said, the precision needed for medical imaging and industrial imaging is a lot higher than most CMOS image sensors can provide--yet.

These days, 13megapixel cameras available in common cell-phones are everywhere, we should see them in medical devices. But, perhaps the process in which it takes to certify a tech would be too much work and money. However, this modular design may side step evaluation rules. Once a device is certified, does a small component change need to be signed off on by third parties? If not, then this camera setup could continue to stay on the leading edge.

Al--fascinating article. If I may, let me ask the following question: For those individuals, who have had cataract or Lasik surgery, do the systems compensate or do they need to compensate? I think this technology is very important but what conditions make the motion systems less reliable--if any. I have had cataract surgery in both eyes therefore have lenses in both eyes. Does that represent a problem for the hardware of software?

Bob,
Like most industrial motion solutions, the reliability of these micro motion systems is extremely high. The key to the motion performance is very high repeatability and accuracy driven by the closed loop performance that intelligent sensors provide. I am not sure how this specifically translates into surgical applications, since the surgeon introduces a new type of flexible intelligence into the system. I believe that "robot assist" systems are one way that advanced motion control increases the accuracy of surgical systems by providing an additional tool for the surgeon. Others may be able to offer more insight into this area of advanced control.
Al

Industrial workplaces are governed by OSHA rules, but this isn’t to say that rules are always followed. While injuries happen on production floors for a variety of reasons, of the top 10 OSHA rules that are most often ignored in industrial settings, two directly involve machine design: lockout/tagout procedures (LO/TO) and machine guarding.

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